The Intriguing World Of Wine Aromas: A Beginner's Guide

Wine aromas are an important component of tasting and enjoying wine. They are strongly linked to wine flavours and taste. When we taste wine, we also absorb its aromas through our retro-nasal passage, which connects our mouth to our nose.

Wine aromas are strongly linked to the particular grape variety used to make the wine, but they are also influenced by factors such as where the grapes were grown, the winemaking process, and the wine's age.

The human nose is capable of differentiating between thousands of unique scents, allowing us to discern the variety of flavours offered in a single sip.

A wine's aroma can be floral, citrus, fruity, vegetal, earthy, or any number of familiar scents.

The sense of smell is primary when it comes to wine tasting and is the main way wine is tasted and evaluated.

How to smell wine

The aroma of a wine is its smell, which can be floral, citrus, fruity, vegetal, earthy, or any number of familiar scents depending on the grape variety used, the winemaking process, and the wine's storage conditions. The aroma of a wine is strongly linked to its flavour and taste. When we taste a wine, we also absorb its aromas through our retro-nasal passage, which connects our mouth to our nose.

The first step in smelling wine is to swirl the glass. This releases the aromas into the air. Swirl the glass vigorously for about 10 seconds, then place your nose into the glass and breathe normally. Avoid wearing strong perfume, which could be overpowering.

It is normal to just smell "wine" at first. The more wines you smell, the easier it will be to distinguish aromas. Think of categories first: if drinking a white wine, can you smell citrus fruit, tropical fruit, or florals? If drinking a red wine, does it smell of red fruit, dried fruit, or black fruit?

Once you have identified a category, try to be more specific. For example, if you smell citrus, is it lemon, lime zest, orange peel, tangerine, or pink grapefruit? If you smell red fruit, can you distinguish between raspberries, strawberries, cherry, or pomegranate?

These are the notes for a Grüner: peach, green apple, grapefruit, and white pepper.

Fruit, florals, and earthy notes are all primary aromas, derived from the grape variety and dependent on climate and ageing. There is a huge variety of primary aromas ranging from cherry and fresh-cut grass to elderflower.

Secondary aromas come from winemaking, as they are fermentation-derived. These include nuts, butter, vanilla, and cedar.

Finally, tertiary aromas come from ageing. This can include a large variety of smells, including roasted nuts, baking spices, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, leather, and cedar. Vanilla and coconut are related to oak-ageing.

It is also possible to smell faults in wine. Oxidised wines smell quite flat, while reduction in wine (not receiving enough oxygen) can smell like boiled garlic or cabbage. Corked wines often smell of wet cardboard or musty cellars.

Improving Your Wine-Smelling Skills

To improve your wine-smelling skills, start paying attention to the everyday smells you encounter and try to identify them. Over time, this will result in greater sensitivity, which will help you when smelling wine.

Another technique is to jot down notes about the basic notes and aromas you smell when wine tasting. Look at the description of the product and try to identify those smells. Ask others what they smell and see if you can recognise it, too. Over time, you will begin to recognise aroma patterns in different types of wine.

Primary aromas

The aroma of a wine is a crucial aspect of its character, and it plays a significant role in our enjoyment of it. Primary aromas are those that come directly from the grape variety itself and are typically fruity, floral, or herbal in nature. These aromas are present in the wine from the very beginning and allow us to differentiate between different wines when they are young.

Fruit Aromas

The fruit aromas found in wines can span a wide range, from citrus and orchard fruits to berries and tropical notes. For example, Chardonnay grown in a cool climate like Chablis will exhibit aromas of green apple and citrus, while a warmer climate may produce more melon, grapefruit, and even pineapple and other tropical fruit aromas. Red wines often showcase black and red fruit aromas, including plums, cherries, and berries, which can develop into jammy, baked, or dried fruit notes with increased ripeness.

Floral Aromas

Floral notes are also commonly found in primary aromas, with violets, rose, chamomile, and elderflower being some of the scents that can be detected. These delicate fragrances add a layer of complexity and elegance to the wine.

Herbal Aromas

In addition to fruit and floral notes, primary aromas can also include herbal scents. For instance, Sauvignon Blanc is known for its grassy or asparagus notes, adding a crisp, refreshing dimension to the wine.

Spice Aromas

Some primary aromas may also exhibit spice notes, such as black pepper in Syrah or white pepper in Gruner Veltliner. These subtle spice accents contribute to the wine's overall flavour profile and complexity.

The primary aromas in wine are a reflection of the grape variety and the natural factors influencing it, such as climate and terroir. These aromas provide an initial impression of the wine and form the foundation upon which the secondary and tertiary aromas build as the wine ages.

Secondary aromas

The aromas of wine are more diverse than its flavours. The human tongue is limited to the primary tastes perceived by taste receptors: sourness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, and savouriness. The wide array of fruit, earthy, leathery, floral, herbal, mineral, and woody flavours present in wine are derived from aroma notes sensed by the olfactory bulb.

In wine tasting, wine is sometimes smelled before taking a sip in order to identify some components of the wine that may be present. The most basic term is "aroma", which generally refers to a "pleasant" smell. The term aroma is also distinguished from "bouquet", which refers to the smells that arise from the chemical reactions of fermentation and aging of the wine.

In Burgundy, the aromas of wines are subdivided into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas. While primary aromas come from the grape variety itself, and tertiary aromas appear with ageing, secondary aromas are derived from the production processes, including fermentation, malolactic fermentation, and lees ageing.

The types of yeast, ferments, fermentation conditions, and temperatures are factors that contribute to the variety of secondary aromas. The most obvious of these aromas are extracted from oak. They can be aromas of toast, cedar, smoke, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, or coconut. Malolactic fermentation is a process where tart malic acid in wine is converted to softer, creamier lactic acid in order to reduce acidity in wine. It produces nutty, creamy, and buttery aromas. Some wines, especially white and sparkling wines, are aged several months on the lees, which gives them yeasty, pastry, and biscuity aromas.

Tertiary aromas

In red wines, common tertiary notes include leather, truffle, cigar box, tobacco, cedar, and mushroom. In white wines, nutty, mushroomy, or honeyed notes can develop, while petrol or kerosene notes are often associated with aged Riesling wines. Other tertiary aromas can include leather, cigar box, truffle or mushroom, fusel/petrol, brioche/cereal, or honey.

The technique of microoxygenation can affect the aromatic bouquet of a wine. The longer and more extensive the ageing process, the more a wine's aromatics will be influenced by its tertiary aromas.

The ageing process

The length of the ageing process is also important. Wines designed to be enjoyed immediately may not develop much of a bouquet, and their fresh aromas may diminish over time. On the other hand, wines designed to age need time for their desired aromatic compounds to develop, so drinking them too early may result in a less enjoyable experience.

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